Leverkusen back in business, Hertha Berlin mean business

Good week for: Freiburg, Hertha Berlin, Jadon Sancho, Bayer Leverkusen

Bad week for: Friedhelm Funkel, Hannover, Stuttgart, Bremen 

The Lowdown

— Hertha Berlin mean business this season. Having beating Bayern at home last month, they have now snatched a draw at league leaders Dortmund. A last-minute penalty proved crucial and while Dortmund should have wrapped the game up sooner, Hertha deserved something for their smart play. Europe, whether they'll admit it or not, is very possible for this side this season.

Read more: Hertha show how smart they have become

— Bayer Leverkusen were back to something close to their best and that fine form has been spearheaded by contributions from Julian Brandt and Karim Bellarabi. The latter is reborn in recent games, scoring four goals in the last nine days for the club. It took him 350 days to score the four goals before that. The win is a much-needed one for coach Heiko Herrlich, upon whom the pressure was starting to grow. A 6-2 drilling is something of a reality check for Werder Bremen, despite a second-half rally that got them back to 3-2. They remain fourth and are still enjoying a fine season.

— Much like in Athens last week, Bayern Munich got the win without really impressing. Leon Goretzka and Thiago dragged Bayern over the line against struggling Mainz, but the performance won't have done much to stave off the crows circling around Niko Kovac.

— Markus Weinzierl is still waiting for a real chance to show his worth as the new Stuttgart head coach. After losing 4-0 to Dortmund soon after arriving, Weinzierl suffered the same result at Hoffenheim. But his side went down a man after just eight minutes, leaving his matchplan in tatters. Perhaps against Frankfurt next time out he will get a fair chance, but so far it's been a baptism of fire for Weinzierl.

— Augsburg and Wolfsburg got wins against Hannover and Düsseldorf, respectively, as the gaps in quality starts to show around the Bundesliga table. RB Leipzig extend their unbeaten run to eight in all competitions but, after a goalless draw with Schalke, they are functional rather than exhilarating under Ralf Rangnick. Incidentally that's back-to-back goalless draws for the Red Bull-backed team, who are lacking, ahem, energy in attack.

— There's late, and then there's Sebastien Haller late. The striker salvaged a point for Eintracht Frankfurt at Nuremberg, who were edging their way to a vital three points when Haller spoiled the party in the 92nd minute, preserving Eintracht's unbeaten run, which is now up to six games.

The quotes

"I don't want to talk about that crap anymore. If that's a clear error, when a player has the ball hit against him from half a meter away... Where should he put his hands? Should he leave them in the changing rooms?"
- Horst Heldt after Augsburg's VAR penalty.

"Who would these club bosses choose if they were about to have heart surgery? The young doctor who has just passed his exams with flying colors? Or the experienced doctor who has performed the procedure a thousand times?"
- Felix Magath to Bild on the trend of young head coaches.

"You know what, I like all colors."
- Niko Kovac when asked about the Bayern fans' protest against the mint green away jerseys, that are not in line with the club colors.

"We were a bit naiive in the last few minutes. We have to be smarter and not just score four, five goals. You get three points for a 2-1 win as well."
- Marco Reus on the draw with Hertha Berlin.

"I take my hat off to them."
- Christian Streich on his players after their win against Gladbach.

"We haven't won any beauty prizes today but that wasn't our aim." 
- Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel after his side's 0-0 draw with RB Leipzig.

The stats

— Jadon Sancho became the first player born in 2000 to score a brace in the Bundesliga.

— Weston McKennie's header against the bar for Schalke was the sixth time Schalke have found the woodwork this season, once more than they've scored.

— Düsseldorf have now lost five games in a row, scoring two and conceding 17 in the process.

— Gladbach have not won away in Freiburg since 2002.

— Salomon Kalou's brace takes him to 41 career Bundesliga goals, making him the leading Ivorian goalscorer in league history. Kalou overtook Didier Ya Konan, who previously held the record.

— The last time a team had scored more than Dortmund after the first nine games of the season (29) was Eintracht Frankfurt (31) in the 1974/75 season.       

— Schalke's Mark Uth has now gone 835 minutes without a Bundesliga goal - his longest ever dry spell. 

The fans

Some of Hertha Berlin's fans had an altercation with police during their game against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. Hertha released a statement afterwards, condeming the use of pyrotechnics in the stadium, while supporter groups have criticized the actions of police, which they say contributed to the escalation. 

The weird

In the fourth minute of injury time, with Borussia Mönchengladbach pushing for an equalizer against Freiburg, goalkeeper Yann Sommer came out of his box to receive a throw-in and launch a final attack. But his miss-cued pass landed straight at the feet of Lucas Höler who, having only been on the pitch a couple of minutes, controlled on the chest before firing the ball into the empty net from 45 meters (49 yards). 3-1 to Freiburg, game over.